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A crude oil pipeline that links the Chevron-operated Escravos terminal in the Niger Delta was attacked late on November 14, according to military sources. No group has claimed responsibility.
A spokesman from Chevron said that production had been shut down but did not supply any figures, although security sources say in the region of 100,000 barrels per day of oil output will have been cut because of the incident.
The attack on the pipeline occurred in Abiteye, where militants have previously attacked other oil facilities. In June, armed men blew up the Abiteye/Olero crude pipeline, which forced Chevron to cut output by 120,000 bpd for almost a month.
The Niger Delta region supplies the majority of the Nigerian government's income, yet it remains devastated by corruption and poverty. Since early 2006 attacks by militant groups and criminal gangs have cut oil production in the region by around twenty percent.
Armed gangs have taken advantage of the breakdown in law and order to hijack huge quantities of crude oil - known locally as 'bunkering' - part of an illegal international trade thought to bring in millions of dollars daily.
In a separate incident, Nigerian gunboats intercepted and boarded a vessel suspected of carrying 'bunkered' crude oil in the Niger delta, arresting 22 men.
Estimates put the amount of crude oil stolen from the region at around 100,000 bpd, which equates to around $2 billion a year at current prices.
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